PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS – Death Hilarious – CD

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CD

The fifth album from Newcastles riff wizards Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs is defined by calculated aggression and self-lacerating lyrics. Its startling bonuses include playful synth work and the appearance of a giant from hip-hop. With its title juxtaposing absurdity and seriousness, this is Death Hilarious.

Whereas 2023s Land Of Sleeper was conceived as an immersive headphones experience, this time Pigs strove for something more directly hostile. We wanted it to be a slap in the face, grins producer and guitarist Sam Grant. That objective came, in part, from playing so many gigs over the last couple of years. The band felt well-oiled and ripe to give listeners at home the kind of pummelling their audiences receive.

As for the words, they emerged from a bout of anxiety which derailed Matt Batys self-confidence to the extent that he wonderedwhether hed be able to write any lyrics again. With his mind telling him hed lost it and no longer had anything to say, the solution was to embrace the disquiet. After a while I realised this is my muse, remembers Baty. I decided to give all these thoughts an avenue to release themselves, in the hope of exorcising them. This suited the punchy and scratchier style the band were pursuing.

Pigs also see it as a response to the everyone-for-themselves undertones of neoliberalism, notes drummer Ewan Mackenzie. Theres a lot more uncertainty and insecurity across society at the moment and, rather than resort to forced optimism, I think its important to respond with something thats real and felt. On Death Hilarious, then, Pigs are keen to sidestep the Live, Laugh, Love positivity thats propagated through mainstream pop culture.

That being said, the album contains the latest moment thats caused the quintet to pinch themselves in disbelief: Glib Tongued has guest bars by El-P from Run The Jewels. When bassist John-Michael Hedley unwittingly wrote what his bandmates considered their equivalent of a hip-hop number, Pigs set their sights high and secured a blistering contribution from one of the worlds greatest rappers.

Thats not to say Pigs have pivoted to nu-metal. Death Hilarious is a diversely punishing record which shapeshifts through Sabbathian doom, grotesquely minimalist noise rock and cyclical post-metal fortissimos. Pigs continue to push themselves, too. Incongruous synthesiser solos appear where guitar histrionics would usually fit. Piano tracks lurk in the mix, adding near-subliminal depth to the maelstrom. Stitches is like Motrhead trying to perform glam rock with a tipsy keyboardist.

The well-oiled unit now face touring this material. Theyll need to be in peak shape just to hit the 100mph pace of cosmic-thrash opener Blockage. Distorted licks flying from the amplifiers of Grant and lead guitarist, Adam Ian Sykes, while the rhythm section sizzle behind. We usually play things even faster when were excited, chuckles Mackenzie, with an underlying sense of concern. Meanwhile Baty is less likely to rap El-Ps verses, in concert, than he is to suddenly attempt a three-part harmony.

Is it the recognition of their individual limitations that ultimately makes Pigs more than the sum of their parts? None of us are capable of doing what each of the other ones do, says Grant. Ergo, theres a really healthy appreciation across the board. I look at all four of the others and each of them is doing something beyond what I can do in that world.

On that note, Pigs joke theres a danger their next album will be titled UNBREAKABLE RESPECT. Surely thats edging from insecurity-induced psych metal into the dubious area of wellness waffle.

If you cant beat them, join them.

Live, Laugh RIFF!

Tracklist:

01. Blockage
02. Detroit
03. Collider
04. Stitches
05. Glib Tongued (Feat. ElP)
06. The Wyrm
07. Carousel
08. Coyote Call
09. Toecurler